Hyponatremia (British: hyponatraemia) is an electrolyte disturbance (disturbance of the salts in the blood) in which the sodium (Natrium in Latin) concentration in the plasma is lower than normal (hypo in Greek; in this case, below 135 mmol/L).
Severe or rapidly progressing hyponatremia can result in swelling of the brain (cerebral edema), and the symptoms of hyponatremia are mainly neurological. Hyponatremia is most often a complication of other medical illnesses in which either fluids rich in sodium are lost (for example because of diarrhea or vomiting), or excess water accumulates in the body at a higher rate than it can be excreted (for example in polydipsia or syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone, SIADH). There may also be spurious hyponatremia (pseudohyponatremia or factitious hyponatremia) if other substances expand the serum and dilute the sodium (for example, high blood levels of fats in hypertriglyceridemia or high blood sugar in hyperglycemia).
The diagnosis of hyponatremia relies mainly on the medical history, clinical examination and blood and urine tests. Treatment can be directed at the cause (for example, corticosteroids in Addison’s disease) or involve restriction of water intake, intravenous saline or drugs like diuretics, demeclocycline, urea or vaptans (antidiuretic hormone receptor antagonists). Correcting the salt and fluid balance needs to occur in a controlled fashion, as too rapid correction can lead to severe complications such as heart failure or central pontine myelinolysis.
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For the past few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of research on Hyponatremia and the various products which are sold to put electrolytes back in the body. (Gatoraid, CeraSport, Ceralite, Meta-Lite, etc.) They all have their ups and downs, and for simplicity, Cera Sport/Ceralite seems to be the best. The problem is they taste horrible. You can choke them down, but then you want to lick the carpet to get the taste off your tounge.
The benefits of this stuff is that it puts water back in your system along with some essential minerals. Plus it is hard to overdose on it.
Gatoraid is still good, but not as good as Cera Sport products–but it taste a lot better.
Now for the disciplined individual who is experienced at reading ones own body (like professional athletes) then this product from SaltStick seems to be the heat. The down side is if you take too much salt you can get salt poisoning. that is why you need to have been an athlete for many years so that you will know what your body needs before injesting a pill. However for those that do, these pills are a godsend. Plus it comes with a dispensing tube which is water resistant and rattle noise free.
Cera Sport Products Website here.
SaltStick Website here.
Review of SaltStick at Zombierunner.
For personal experience, I used to be an ultramarathoner running mainly in hot humid tropical environments. I have used everything under the sun to stay fueled, hydrated & salted up. The best I ever got was to use a bag of crushed chips (Lays brand..lots of salt) & pizza worked pretty good. Though I wish I had access to these pills back in the day, because I could have done a hell of a lot more.
Salt is the media your body uses to transfer water into the body. If you are short salt, you can drink all the water in the world and still be dehydrated. This is because your body can not absorb water without salt.
Here are some other reviews, and I really like how the first guy explains things. The first three links are general anatomy and physiology reports. The last is a recent discussion on the Lightfighter medical board about hydration. I frequently find good medical stuff there. This one is definitely a good read.
Thread on Lightfighter.
Here are a few more links on hydration. The lightfighter medical guys are squared away. have lots of good things to say. I think the information is good for posting, however I also feel that certain things must be concentrated on. The salt pills are great..but only if you know your body. This comes from experience of listening to your body that only pro athletes get.
More video lectures here.
If one has doubts then Cera Sport is the way to go. Since it is summertime again, I thought your readers might find this information to be useful. –Doug
Disclaimer: Please consult your doctor or medic about a personal hydration plan, and do your own research in regards to any kind of salt intake or electrolyte intake program.
Re your comments on CeraSport/CeraLyte – these are SO different!
CeraSport is made for sweat loss and improvements now have it tasting great! There is a new CeraSportEX1 which has more salts but less of the rice which is what makes CeraSport WORK so much better than other hydration drinks.
CeraLyte, on the other hand, is for diarrhea and major dehydration, and has 4 or 5x the salts as CeraSport or Gatorade. It is to drink instead of getting an IV when people are really sick and is a medicine-type product rather than a sports drink.
If someone is sweating, then drink CeraSport; use CeraLyte for stomach illnesses (diarrhea) and vomiting. Charlene
Comment by Charlene — Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 1:49 PM
Charlene,
Thanks for the clarification on both of these products. This is very relevant to our industry, because getting diarrhea is pretty common place in war zones. So is dehydration from just suffering out in the hot sun of Afghanistan or Iraq. Companies should be paying attention to this as well, because heat related injuries can totally hinder operations out there, and even take away from the main job of protecting the customer. You would be well served to invest in these kinds of products and ship them out to your contractors and medics out there. That is taking care of your people. -matt
Comment by headjundi — Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 3:55 PM
I have tried CeraSport from a friend in the military. It tasted so bad I looked it up online to make sure it wasn't toxic. Upon further research, I realized that it is just crap, overpriced sugar water with some salt in it, after looking at the prices on their website, these people are probably making a killing, I'm in the wrong business.
Much cheaper alternatives out there and I PROMISE your body will never notice the difference.
Comment by Jason Levy — Monday, November 16, 2009 @ 2:58 AM
I went through (and graduated) US Army Ranger School in the summer. We had record heat in both the Georgia and Florida phases that year with average daily highs in the triple digits. The Army was experimenting with CeraSport as a hydration supplement. Some days we’d get about 3 small packets spread out through the day and others we’d have Gatorade. I had never heard of Cera before but I could definitely tell the difference between Cera days and non-Cera days. Understand these are some of the most extreme conditions a human can be in short of a POW. You are malnourished, sleep deprived, over stressed and over worked in every way for months.
I lost well over 25 lbs in two months (much of it muscle) and I was in phenomenal shape when I started. Anyway, I am a huge fan of CeraSport for those operating under extreme conditions. The taste doesn’t matter much at that point anyway.
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Comment by Nick S. — Saturday, September 17, 2011 @ 8:10 PM
Thanks Nick. That is quite the endorsement and it is good to hear that Cera Sport is that effective.
Comment by Feral Jundi — Sunday, September 18, 2011 @ 2:16 PM